Intravenous administration sets have been known for many years incorporating at the proximal end of the tubing set, a spike for piercing the outlet of an intravenous fluid container such as a bag or a bottle. When an intravenous bottle is used, the spike typically has both a liquid flow path for conducting the liquid outwardly from the bottle as well as a separate air venting path for permitting air to enter the bottle to fill the space previously occupied by the outwardly flowing liquid. In the case of flexible intravenous bags, such an air vent path has not been necessary, since the bag will collapse as the fluid therein is depleted.
In addition to these traditional methods of connecting an I.V. container, there is also available in the trade administration sets having a connector suitable for securement to the outlet of a disposable syringe. This type of a syringe-venting connector, which enables the use of an inexpensive disposable syringe as a passive I.V. container, delivers the liquid without depression of the syringe plunger by permitting the venting of air into the body of the syringe. Such a connector is described in co-pending application Ser. No. 06/590,982, entitled "Parenteral Fluid Administration Apparatus and Method", which is owned by the assignee of this application.
This invention is directed to a unique adapter for increasincreasing the versatility of an I.V. administration set which incorporates this form of proximal syringe-venting connector.